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The suspicious Customs officers who found the haul among cargo at Auckland airport had every right to be pleased.

Stopping drugs from coming into the country is a core role of the Customs Service and one that's carried a political edge since Prime Minister John Key set up a cross-agency taskforce to tackle the P epidemic in 2009.

A few days after the cylinder find, Customs issued a press release to say fewer precursor drugs - the ingredients needed to cook meth - were being discovered at the border.

There was also a reference to surveys which indicated P was harder to find and less popular.

The media statement said that was a "direct result of border activity".

The message was clear: Customs was finding less pseudoephedrine, because there was less to find.

But Key's taskforce group thought differently.

In October 2013, the Tackling Methamphetamine report from the Department of the Prime Minister warned that although smaller amounts of pseudoephedrine were being found, this did not necessarily mean less was being smuggled into New Zealand.

"The ongoing decline in the quantity of precursors seized is likely to be a reflection of a change in modus operandi by the syndicates involved, rather than an indication of reduced quantities entering New Zealand," it said.

In December 2013, a Customs staffer set an anonymous email to the Herald. It said managers were "quietly panicking" because "hard questions" were "inevitable" about why the agency failed to intercept large quantities of tablets seized by Taskforce Ghost.

A rare acknowledgement of any potential problem was a few lines in a subsequent briefing to incoming Customs Minister Nicky Wagner.

While the methamphetamine market was "no longer expanding", officials told her imported pseudoephedrine were still reaching cooks.

"The detection of a large precursor shipment in sea cargo in late 2013 (Operation Ghost) suggests a shift between pathways and reinforces the need for Customs to continually refine its targeting."

Customs' current head of investigations and intelligence, Jamie Bamford, said the press release was correct at the time.

Less pseudoephedrine was being seized at the border because criminals were switching to ephedrine, which allowed them to speed up the cooking process.

Since then, Customs had focused on building stronger relationships with other countries to stop drugs even reaching New Zealand.

"There are record amounts of drugs being seized at the border," said Bamford.

"Our challenge is going up against inventive and clever criminals constantly looking to exploit supply chains. And we feel we're doing that. New Zealand is not alone in having a P issue."

Customs and police seized more than 334kg of the Class A drug last year, nine times the amount found in 2013.

But that record was blown out of the water in June when police stumbled across 494kg of meth on Northland's 90 Mile Beach. Most was packed in bags left in an abandoned campervan, 50kg was buried in sand dunes.

The record methamphetamine bust of nearly 500kg in Northland. Photo / Supplied.

It was the biggest ever seizure of pure product in New Zealand, followed soon after by the second biggest - a Customs' bust of 176kg in October.

So is New Zealand losing the war on P?

Key's 2009 Methamphetamine Action Plan was a cross-agency approach overseen by his senior staff to address public concern.

One of the first steps was to stop cold and flu medicines containing pseudoephedrine being sold over the counter.

The price, purity and availability of the drug are key indicators of success, according to annual progress reports. However, those figures have remained relatively stable, perhaps even easier to buy P than it ever has been.

In November, the Prime Minister John Key announced an extra $15 million seized from criminals would be invested in anti-drug initiatives.

Asked whether this was an admission the previous strategies were failing, Key said "there had been quite a lot of debate in my office on this issue".

The official advice was the number of people using methamphetamine is dropping.

"What is fair to say, though, is that those who are using the drug are the hardened end. They are using more of it."

Rubbing shoulders in the VIP lounge

As well as stopping drugs coming into New Zealand, detectives decided to go after assets bought with dirty money.

Under the Taskforce Ghost umbrella, they launched Operation Galaxy, focusing on the financial affairs of the key players.

"This investigation initially focused on a number of VIP members at SkyCity casino, in particular, the flow of money related to drug transactions through the casino," according to an affidavit sworn by Detective Inspector Bruce Good.

"From my experience and numerous intelligence reports and organised crime investigations, SkyCity casino and, in particular, the VIP facilities are a recognised money laundering risk and an environment within which numerous drug distribution groups work, both alone and alongside one another."

Felix Lim first introduced undercover cop Joe Arama to "Baldy Mark" Hoo and other underworld figures in the VIP area.

At Hoo's trial, the casino was described by Detective Sergeant Mike Beal as the "geographical hub" of Taskforce Ghost, a place where those under surveillance gambled "millions of dollars, some, tens of millions".

"It's a central point where historically we have found members of the Asian community, who are involved in illegal activity, socialise."

Operation Ghost did not uncover evidence of drug deals taking place inside SkyCity but it's not the first time they've been linked in court.

In response, SkyCity said it was "extremely comfortable" the casino had met obligations under anti-money laundering (AML) and problem gambling laws.

A spokesman said the casino could not comment on individuals targeted in Ghost and Galaxy for privacy reasons and because of strict disclosure rules in AML laws.

But he confirmed "a number of those people did come to our attention on several occasions".

"We were co-operative with the police from the start of this investigation. We are extremely confident that we took all appropriate actions under AML requirements and also that we took proactive steps from a host responsibility perspective."

These steps - some of which predated Ghost - included staff interventions, interviews, monitoring and, in several cases, banning people from the casino. Staff were also instructed to report immediately suspicious transactions to the Police Financial Intelligence Unit.

"Only a few of the group of players identified by police were regular visitors to the casino, and the level of their play varied widely," the spokesman said.

"In most cases their turnover was not out of the ordinary for local VIPs."

In sentencing Gan, Justice Mathew Downs left no doubt as to whom he thought was sitting at the very top of the tree.

"Intelligent, worldly, even shrewd", Gan received the "super profits" - there was evidence of $7 million in cash deposits in various bank accounts - while leaving the dirty work of distribution to the likes of "Peter" Tran.

"The Crown contended to the jury this was 'a near-perfect scam'. There was no overstatement in that language; you were caught only by chance," said Justice Downs.

"I am sure, which is shorthand for satisfied beyond reasonable doubt, you were the primary architect - at least in New Zealand - of the October 2013 importation."